


Penelope's Phone

by microwavebubbles



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: BAU Soft Stuff, BAU family, Other, Short & Sweet, general love and kindness, i love them all and want good things for them and nothing else, joy, soft fic, some fluffy stuff, they deserve all the love in the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27099100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/microwavebubbles/pseuds/microwavebubbles
Summary: A look at Penelope's phone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	Penelope's Phone

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea kicking around in my head all day, so I finally wrote it down. This is so sweet it may give you cavities but I just wanted to wrap them all in a blanket and give them a hug.

On the bad days, she looked up pictures of baby animals. Kittens, puppies, giraffes, hippo’s – she wasn’t fussy. The innocent faces of a species that weren’t inclined to torture and murder was usually all she needed to cleanse her brain from the horrors that appeared on her screen.

On the worse days she treated herself to a croissant for dinner and watched a Disney movie, transporting herself to a world in which the bad guys always lost, the good guys always won and despite overwhelming odds, still found time to sing a beautiful song or two.

On the very bad, terrible, awful days she went through the gallery on her phone. Penelope was the consummate picture taker of the group – forcing them to squeeze into frame and smile for her, so she could have their joy as a keepsake forever.

But it was the candids she liked best. Sitting at her desk she would endlessly swipe through the album she had dedicated for such days.

There was Reid, halfway through showing them a magic trick, his eyes shining like a child, looking impossibly young. Photo’s of him studying a book, absorbed by the words on the page, transfixed by knowledge. Him at a Dr Who convention they attended, when he found a rare collectible – the excited smile they rarely saw, where his tongue pressed hard against his teeth as though he was biting off a screech of joy.

There was Rossi, towel slung over his shoulder as he taught them how to cook, presenting a façade of stern teacher, but you could clearly see the love in his eyes as he stood behind them, watching their work. Photo’s of him dancing with JJ, Emily, Strauss, Morgan and Reid as he taught them all over time how to waltz properly (Hotch already knew). Photos taken from the back of the room at his book lectures, always looking politely bewildered at the amount of people who showed up to watch him explain the nature of serial killers.

Photos of JJ and Emily on their many nights out, many of the photos too blurry to decipher what was going on, a glimpse of a beer, a flash of a light in a bar – but despite fuzzy memories they always brought her joy. All Emily had to do was whisper the phrase “Quan-Tee-Co” for all three of them to erupt into wild giggles, a secret they would never explain to the men of the group, despite repeated asks.

Photo’s of JJ and Henry, fast asleep on the couch, Henry’s drool causing a moon of a stain on JJ’s shirt as he napped on her chest. JJ as she carried Henry as a baby, a toddler, a child, watching her godson grow up with a flick of her thumb across a screen. JJ kissing the team’s cheek, Morgan leaning into it with a smile, Reid blushing furiously, Hotch looking resigned to accepting affection and Emily seeming to itch to throw the love right back to her.

Photos of Emily climbing things, she loved to scale fences, trees, sit on desks, anything to show her dominance over gravity as a force. Emily with a jug of beer and a straw in front of her, Emily being carried on Morgan’s back after winning a bet and demanding transportation fit for her champion status. Emily looking triumphant after telling a joke that made Hotch double over with laughter. Making popcorn for them on a movie night. Threading her hands through Reid’s hair, teasing like a big sister.

Photos of Hotch smiling, she was always amazed at how many she had. Often he was looking at the others, smiles of pride. Cherished pictures of him and Jack; Jack on his shoulders, reaching for a tree branch to swing off, holding Jacks hand as he toddled along behind his father. Jack asleep on his dads lap, a contented smile on his cherubic face as Hotch sipped a drink and gently held his son, tenderness and love in the hands of a man who had seen so little of it. Hotch soaking wet from a water balloon fight that had gotten out of hand at Rossi’s. Hotch covered in powdered sugar from a doughnut, the bag of candy he kept on his desk and would occasionally toss to each of them – a father to all of them without trying to be. Standing off to the side at gatherings they had, taking a moment to drink them in – the family he chose.

And of course, Morgan. He often took photos of himself on her phone, pulling faces, flexing his muscles, goofing off. But her favourites were of him with the rest of them, carrying Reid over his shoulder, physically forcing him to participate in pool at a bar. Looking annoyed as Reid triumphed over him in chess, endlessly explained a fact to him. Photos of him, mid-argument with Emily, the way he shrunk from her slightly, as though he knew he would come off worse in a physical fight. Fist bumping a reluctant Hotch. Resting his arm on JJ’s head because he loved to make her feel short.

Photos of things the team had given her, post it notes they had left on her desk, her screens, telling her she was loved, appreciated. Mugs they had bought her decorated with vibrant colours and flowers, pens with fuzzy tops and weird quirks. Even Gideon had given her bright coloured thumbtacks once. Tangible, photographic reminders of how they supported each other, loved each other.

On those not good very bad and terrible days, Penelope always liked to remind herself of her family. Of how lucky she was, to know people who made her feel like _home_.


End file.
